WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - U.S. Central Command forces have destroyed a large number of weapons that posed a threat to U.S. and coalition forces in Syria.
The weapons, including three truck-mounted multiple rocket launchers, a T-64 tank and multiple mortars, were destroyed in an airstrike, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.
It presented a clear and imminent threat to U.S. and coalition forces in the vicinity of eastern Syria's Mission Support Site Euphrates, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told the media.
The U.S. Central Command said its forces carried out the strike in self-defense after the mobile multiple rocket launchers fired rockets that landed in the vicinity of MSS Euphrates, and mortars were fired toward U.S. forces.
Ryder said while the Pentagon is still assessing who was operating the weapons, Iranian-backed militia groups are operating in the region that have attacked MSS Euphrates in the past.
This morning's incident was the second time in less than a week that Centcom forces were used to neutralize a hostile threat in the region, Ryder told reporters.
On November 29, Centcom deployed A-10 fighter aircraft to repel an attack targeting U.S. and coalition forces at MSS Euphratess, the U.S. military base in eastern Syria.
When asked if either of the past week's engagements was indicative of Centcom working with the Syrian Democratic Forces as part of the greater civil war going on throughout the region, Ryder made clear that U.S. forces in the region are primarily focused on protecting their own personnel and partnering with the SDF to counter Islamic State.
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